Historic Israel UAE Flight Landed in Abu Dhabi

Update: The first Israeli commercial plane to fly directly from Israel to the United Arab Emirates has landed in Abu Dhabi at 15:48 on 31 August, 2020.

Watch: The first Israeli commercial plane to fly directly from Israel to the United Arab Emirates lands in Abu Dhabi.https://t.co/trV4Ji11nb pic.twitter.com/EWm6fneXIh

— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) August 31, 2020

According to FlightRadar24, Flight LY971 took 3 hours 17 minutes to reach Abu Dhabi from Tel Aviv, flying over Saudi Arabia airspace at 35,000 feet.

Watch: A packed airliner taking US and Israeli delegates to the United Arab Emirates, the El Al Boeing 737 makes aviation history by cutting straight over Saudi Arabia's territory en route to the UAE capital.https://t.co/fCqnJrlxzb pic.twitter.com/IXDMTc9WJf

— Al Arabiya English (@AlArabiya_Eng) August 31, 2020

Btw, this was the menu #UAEIsrael 🇮🇱✈️🇦🇪 pic.twitter.com/NKsBdCNEv2

— Noa Landau נעה לנדאו (@noa_landau) August 31, 2020

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Israeli and American officials are set to leave for Abu Dhabi, on a historic first El Al flight from Israel to the United Arab Emirates that will fly over Saudi Arabia on Monday 31st August morning.

The special boarding pass that El Al made for the historic Israel-UAE flight#LY971#AbrahamAccords pic.twitter.com/nJJ4rYQbYw

— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) August 31, 2020

It will be the first-ever direct commercial flight from Israel to the UAE and the first Israeli airline to fly over Saudi airspace, a person familiar with the matter said.

The flight will take three hours and 13 minutes, the Israeli Airline Pilots Association said Sunday. The flight is being operated by a EL AL B737-900, registration 4X-EHD.

זה הנתיב שתוכנן (עדיין לא סופי ולמיטב ידיעתנו עדיין לא אושר ע״י הסעודים) לטובת הטיסה הישירה מחר לאבו דהבי מעל סעודיה. אות הקריאה של הטיסה ELY9971. זמן הטיסה המתוכנן 3:13 שע׳. תכנון המשקל בוצע לפי בערך 100 נוסעים (PayLoad 10000). הנתיב עובר ממש קרוב לשדה הבינלאומי בריאד OERY pic.twitter.com/y73qARcGgl

— איגוד הטייסים הישראלי (@igudhatayasim) August 30, 2020

The first official flight between #Israel and the UAE is officially listed on the Ben Gurion Airport website!

FYI: the flight from Israel is flight number 971 (🇦🇪 phone country code); the returning flight is 972 (🇮🇱 phone country code)! https://t.co/R0wxvkQdAx

— Embassy of Israel (@IsraelinUSA) August 28, 2020

El AL put the word "peace" in Hebrew, English and Arabic on the plane for the first commercial flight from Israel to the UAE, set to depart tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/eUf6d3UXHb

— Lahav Harkov (@LahavHarkov) August 30, 2020

The plane designated for the flight has been adorned with the word “peace” in Arabic, Hebrew and English, in honour of the historic moment.

Among those expected to be on the flight are White House Special Adviser Jared Kushner, US National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien, US Special Representative for International Negotiations Avi Berkowitz, US Iran envoy Brian Hook, an Israeli delegation led by National Security Advisor Meir Ben-Shabbat and top Israeli officials in the areas of tourism, trade and energy.

According to Jerusalem Post, The El Al B737-800 taking off from Tel Aviv on Monday for Abu Dhabi is equipped with a system to protect aircraft against aerial threats like ground-to-air missiles.

The Directed IR Countermeasures (DIRCM) manufactured by Elbit Systems defend aircraft by detecting, tracking and jamming incoming infrared threats like heat-seeking ground-to-air missiles and shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles, also known as man-portable air defence systems (MANPADs).

Earlier this week, we published an analysis on the normalisation of Israel and the UAE relationship and its impact to the Middle East Air Carriers.

Aviation Analysis: Historic Flight Between Israel and The UAE To Take Place Next Week

Cover Photo by AFP